By Rich Damaso Sports Correspondent

Thursday

Feb 26, 2009 at 12:01 AM

FAIRHAVEN— The Fairhaven High School boys' basketball team's tenacious defense is holding their opposition under 40 points this year, while their offense scores close to 50 points per game. To advance in the SCC playoffs, they'll need to maintain that same tenacity on defense, and find more ways to score.

FAIRHAVEN— The Fairhaven High School boys' basketball team's tenacious defense is holding their opposition under 40 points this year, while their offense scores close to 50 points per game. To advance in the SCC playoffs, they'll need to maintain that same tenacity on defense, and find more ways to score.

Senior guard Ian Andrade is scoring just under 13 points per game at 12.9 going into the regular season finale this past Monday at Canton, and no one else is in double figures.

"Ian is the only true All-star on this team," said head coach Phil Harding, "but it takes a team attitude to win in this league, and this team has it."

After streaking to an 11-0 start this season, the Blue Devils lost their first game against Old Rochester on January 23, and have lost four out of their last seven games since. In their regular season finale this past Monday, February 16, the Fairhaven boys lost a heartbreaker at Canton, 57-56. A 15-5, 12-4 SCC record should earn a number 5 to a number 8 seed, when post-season play begins next week. Seeding will be announced this Saturday.

The Lady Blue Devils played nearly a mirror image season to the boys' basketball team. After a 2-8, 2-7 SCC start to their season, and after losing that special senior heavy team of 2007-2008, the girls roared back to come within one victory of making the post season. A gritty 73-59 loss to New Bedford, after a losing in a 60-26 blowout earlier in the year, bounced them from the SCC tournament, and put an end to their surprising season.

Center/ forward Kara Charette, a 5'11" freshman, led the team in scoring and rebounds, and the floor general at point guard was another freshman, Kelsey Perron-Sovik. After first year head coach Jeff Perry and junior varsity coach Donald Joseph devised a match-up zone defense, to shut down the opposition's leading scorers, the team seemed to put it all together.

"We started using the match up zone, which is like a man to man defense within a zone, to shut down good scorers," said Perry, "and we've been using it ever since."

The boys on the other hand, play a straight man to man defense, the only defense head coach Phil Harding believes in. That defense has been stifling. The boys have bought into the team defense concept while playing man to man, and like the girls have ignored the 'rebuilding year' label.

"We've really had a great season so far, and have achieved above my expectations," said Harding, "and that's because we have a team attitude, where every kid is doing the best that they can, and doing whatever it takes to win."

Senior 6'2" Brady Murphy, whom Harding calls the best defensive player in the league, senior 6'1" forward Brian Sweeney, junior 6'1" Taylor Motta and 6'0" junior point guard Myles Perron-Sovik make up the starting five for the 2008-2009 Blue Devils, along with Andrade.

Adam Mullen, a 6'2" sophomore forward, is the first player off the bench. A 6'0" junior, Brendan Rossi, a guard, and seniors, 5'9" guard James Rapoza, and 6'1" forward Marcus Barros all see substantial playing time for the Blue Devils.

"We play at least nine kids every game," said Harding, "and they play big."

Fairhaven will skip the preliminary round because of their winning record, and will compete in the first round of the post season as early as next Wednesday, and will play at home.

"We have been successful this year when we don't let the opposition offense play what they want to run," said Harding, "and when we take them out of their offense, we need to execute our offense if we expect to win."

Read next week's Advocate edition for an update of tournament play.

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